Dunes™ CLE in Las Vegas

Greg T. Sueoka is a partner with the Intellectual Property Group and chair of the Patent Group of Fenwick & West LLP, a law firm specializing in high technology matters. Mr. Sueoka practices out of the firm’s Mountain View, California office. His practice emphasizes intellectual property counseling, audits and litigation, and domestic and international patent prosecution.

Mr. Sueoka has substantial experience counseling clients in the computer and software industries on intellectual property matters. He also brings experience litigating patent and trademark disputes. His practice focuses on preparation and prosecution of patents, and his clients include companies in a variety of computer-related industries such as digital electronics, computer architecture, computer systems, communications and semiconductors. A substantial portion of Mr. Sueoka's practice is also dedicated to strategic patent analysis and formulation of patent protection plans. Among the clients he has represented are:

-Apple Computer, Inc.
-Centillium Communications, Inc.
-Cisco Systems
-Experian
-KDDI Labs USA
-Progress Software
-RICOH Innovations
-Savi Technology
-Silicon Image
-SONICblue
-Transmeta Corporation

He is a member of the California Bar and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent lawyer. Mr. Sueoka received a B.S. degree in political science from the University of Utah in 1984, where he graduated cum laude, as well as a B.S. in computer science emphasizing computer architecture in 1985. He received his J.D. from the University of Utah in 1988.

Mark Sandbaken, Ph.D., is an attorney with Townsend and Townsend and Crew, LLP and spoke on the Merck v. Integra decision. Prior to joining Townsend and Townsend and Crew, Mark was an associate with Parsons Behle & Latimer in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mark has a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota) and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before entering law, he conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Utah (Salt Lake City) and at the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee). Mark earned a J.D. degree from the University of Utah College of Law in 1998 and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Mark is a member of the state bars of Washington and Utah. Mark is also a registered patent attorney. His practice includes U.S. and international patent prosecution in the areas of biotechnology, molecular biology, pharmaceuticals, immunology and medical diagnostics. He also assists clients with patent licensing and counsels clients on issues relating to patent interferences and patent infringement litigation.

Vanessa B. Pierce, an Assistant Professor of Law at Ave Maria School of Law, began her law career as an associate with Workman, Nydegger & Seeley in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she focused on patent and trademark prosecution. She later joined the firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner in Palo Alto, California. Prior to joining Ave Maria, Professor Pierce was an associate with Parsons Behle & Latimer in Salt Lake City, where she concentrated her practice in the areas of patent litigation, trademark oppositions, and domain name disputes. She worked as a molecular biologist before entering the legal profession.

Professor Pierce holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Utah and a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Notre Dame. Professor Pierce is a member of the California and Utah bars and is licensed to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Her course offerings include Intellectual Property, Trademark Law, Patent Law, and Copyright Law. Professor Pierce spoke on Experimental Use Exemptions to Patent Infringement--The impact of Madey v. Duke University, 307 F.3d 1351 (2002), on the common law exemption, and of Merck v. Integra 331 F.3d 860 (Fed. Cir. 2003) (argued before the Supreme Court April 20, 2005) on the so called "FDA Exemption" under 35 U.S.C. 271(e)(1).

Ryan Morishita is a founder of the Morishita Law Firm. Ryan spoke on Ethics and Inequitable Conduct in Patent Prosecution. Robert Ryan Morishita earned a B.S. degree, magna cum laude, in mechanical engineering from the University of Utah in 1995. While an undergraduate, Ryan was inducted into the Pi Tau Sigma mechanical engineering honor society and the Golden Key National Honor Society. Ryan earned a J.D. degree from the University of Utah College of Law in 1998 and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. While attending law school, Ryan was a staff member of the Utah Law Review and authored Patent Infringement After GATT: What is an Offer to Sell?, 1997 Utah Law Rev. 905.

Ryan is a member of the state bars of Nevada and Utah. Ryan is also a registered patent attorney. Ryan practices in the areas of domestic and international patent preparation and prosecution, trademark prosecution, copyright, and intellectual property litigation. Ryan has drafted and prosecuted patent applications in the art areas of mechanical devices, electrical devices, medical devices, casino games, electronic gaming machines, Internet business methods, sporting equipment, electrical control systems, and software. Ryan presented at CLE seminars on intellectual property and patent law for the State Bar of Nevada in 2002, 2003, and 2004 and has been a regular contributor to the Nevada chapter of INTA’s State Trademark and Unfair Competition Law treatise since 2000.

Wesley L. Austin is a shareholder with Madson & Metcalf and spoke on Claim Construction After Phillips v. AWH. Wes graduated summa cum laude from Utah State University in electrical engineering in 1993 with a minor in computer science. After obtaining his bachelor's degree, Wes worked for Motorola, Inc. as a software engineer from 1993 to 1995. He was heavily involved in digital signal processing, wireless communications, secure telecommunications, cryptography, embedded software and secure internet communications. Wes attended law school at the University of Utah and obtained his J.D. degree in 1998. He graduated in the top 20% of his class and was named a William H. Leary Scholar. Wes was a judicial intern for the District of Utah. Following law school, Wes has worked for the law firm of Parsons Behle and Latimer and as in-house intellectual property counsel for emWare, Inc.

Wes has been admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the state and federal courts of Utah. His practice focuses on patents, trademarks, copyrights and licensing with an emphasis on computer-related hardware and software technologies. Wes's publications include "A Thoughtful and Practical Analysis of Database Protection Under Copyright Law, and a Critique of Sui Generis Protection," 3 Journal of Technology Law & Policy 1 (Fall 1997); 30 World Jurist Association Law/Technology Journal No. 2, 1 (1997); "Software Patents," 7 Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal No. 2, 225 (1999).